Are Templates the Work of the Devil?
Mention the word "template" to many designers and they recoil, as if a viper was suddenly thrust at them. Who hasn't at one time followed a link and wound up on a template factory site, shaking our heads in dismay? But by definition, do design templates, especially those for print production, have to suck? Chuck Green doesn't think so. He's just released three sets of them, which were apparently two years in the making.
Chuck has been active in the design world for decades—you may have read his writings on design and print production at his Ideabook.com site or come across some of his books, such as The Desktop Publisher’s Idea Book (Random House). The latter has proved to be something of a perennial favorite and formed the basis for the three recently-released Ideabooks for InDesign, QuarkXPress and, somewhat surprisingly, good old PageMaker.
Each of the three packages contains a disk of 315 templates and a 276-page Ideabook, providing Chuck's collected tips on design, production and marketing. All this would be of just passing interest to most us, were it not for his design credentials and his positioning statement for the Ideabook templates: "They offer a detailed framework for finishing, not a rigid layout—big difference. As a designer, I'm sensitive to a designer's needs and when I create a template I do my best to keep it clean and simple."
Much commercial design work is simply a variation on what has been done many times before, whether due to client demands or the reality of needing to crank though profitable work. Chuck sums it up: "Re-inventing the wheel every time you start a project is a waste of billable time! Why spend valuable time setting page sizes, folds, margins, columns, gutters, and guides; determining headline and text sizes; experimenting with positioning; creating styles and so on, when one of the Ideabook templates provides it all for you?"
Why indeed? Do you have clients and projects for which using a template simply makes sense? Or is this a practice to be shunned at all costs?
I can understand the commercialistic sense in this and I can't argue with it on that front, but as an artist AND a designer I feel it's my duty to reinvent the wheel with each new project. I care deeply about advancing my skill level and learning new things wherever I can, but I admit there are plenty of potential clients out there who have no interest in exploring options; they simply want something functional, they don't want something innovative.
It's a wonder why they come to us in the first place.
"It's a wonder why they come to us in the first place."
Beautifully said.
It all comes down to the personality of the client. I prefer CLIENT A who likes innovation...
I hate CLIENT B who wants immediate results.
As much as I hate to admit, templates can help the designer when CLIENT B comes around... But when CLIENT A is present, give them the world.
________________________
Unfortunately, templates ARE the wave of the future, whether you want to admit it or not.
Chuck is simply trying to find his niche in the market before it goes gangbusters... Chuck wants to fund his retirement. Chuck wants to vacation at will, and Chuck wants to make bank off royalties.
Smart man...
However... Vista Print, a huge printing company offers templates. iWorks by Apple offers templates... Does the business world ACTUALLY use these resources in place of the designer's brain? How many designers have lost business to geeky templates?
I don't believe TALENTED designers will actually spend $ on templates!
...But I know who will.
The many "marketing coordinators" or owners of businesses who test their "creativity" by bypassing the designer altogether and purchase Chuckplates (to meet their budget requirements). They think they are creative, but in fact, they are creatively challenged. These are the people who try and design their websites using Microsoft Word, and think Microsoft Office is the bomb.
Said the carpenter to the heart patient, "Give me the stupid scalpel and let me fix it".
If these marketing folk bite this Chuckbait, this is what I invision:
1. HUGE PROBLEMS WITH PREPRESS (unless the software makes it easy).
2. TOO MANY LOOK-ALIKES. Over time, the masses will bore of the same old, same old. (Unless new templates are created often).
3. CHUCKPLATES WILL NOT FLOOD THE WORLD (UNLESS PICKED UP BY APPLE OR MICROSOFT).
Okay, let us imagine this occurs... Will society really drop the designer? I doubt it. People and business like to be unique and will pay through the ears to reach that goal.
"Sooo... does anyone have a heart problem? Just give me a scalpel and I'll fix it. I hear it's not that difficult!"
I can agree with the notion that templates and clip art are probably going to become more popular than custom design in the long run. They may already be more popular, and they will only cheapen the value of designers.
Robert Heinlein says, "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."
To secure our success in the future, it seems we must be broad in our range of skills and be sure that each skill ties into the other so we can capture as much of the market as possible. I see more and more graphic designers of today learning advanced website programming and other design skills. This is a wonderful trend, and it will allow us to have a great deal of influence over the direction of design and the industry for the future.
While it seems it may be easier to commit mass homicide against our rebellious, template-and-clip art-loving potential customers, being multi-talented appears to be the solution.